Films to kickstart conversations about Climate and Social Justice

By badgeron Dec 8 2015 - 10:18amTagged:

As world leaders and civil society converge on Paris for the UNFCCC COP21, a group of award winning international filmmakers have come together to share urgent, funny, engaging and provocative stories that you could use in your community to kick off conversations about climate and social justice. Our desire to connect, to find ways to work together to reimagine a sustainable future is even more urgent after the tragic attack in Paris. Feel free to pass on this list far and wide.

The Yes Men Are Revolting

For the last 20 years, notorious activists The Yes Men have staged outrageous and hilarious hoaxes to draw international attention to corporate crimes against humanity and the environment. In their third cinematic outing The Yes Men Are Revolting (after The Yes Men and The Yes Men Fix the World), they are now well into their 40s, and their mid-life crises are threatening to drive them out of activism forever – even as they prepare to take on the biggest challenge they’ve ever faced: climate change. Revealing the real people behind the ruses, at its heart lies a hopeful message about fighting for change. Watch the film now on itunes and Vimeo On Demand

Merchants of Doubt

Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, silver- tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change. Watch the film now at Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Starz, VUDU, or YouTube.

How to Change the World

In 1971, a group of friends sailed into a nuclear test zone and their protest captured the world’s imagination, inspiring the creation of the global organisation that became Greenpeace. How To Change The World from director Jerry Rothwell is a thrilling and sometimes terrifying look at these pioneering activists and their struggles and dilemmas as an international movement grew around them. Their experiences serve up some essential lessons for any activist. If you are in Paris during COP21 then join Sea-Shepherd founder Paul Watson and activist Emily Hunter (daughter of Greenpeace’s first president Bob Hunter) at a special screening on the 10th December. For details of this and how to watch the film or organise a screening go to http://howtochangetheworldmovie.com/.

The Age of Stupid

Franny Armstrong’s The Age of Stupidstars Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching “archive" footage from the early 2000s and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? Stupid was released in cinemas and on TV worldwide in 2009, won lots of awards, got tonnes of press coverage (everything from the front cover of New York Times to a full-on fashion shoot in Vogue) and also inspired the formation of the 10:10 climate campaign in 41 countries. Watch the film on the Spanner Films website or buy a license to hold your own screening from Indie Screenings.

Chasing Ice

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. James Balog, an acclaimed environmental photographer, conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate.The film is available to view on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes.

From the fracking frontlines there are two brilliant, urgent films to watch:

Unearthed

Unearthed from South Africa Investigates fracking from an international perspective and what this method of gas extraction could mean for the rural Karoo region of South Africa. Unearthed makes an urgent call for active citizenship, community-driven development plans and a responsible, renewable energy future. Visit the film website to find out more about how to screen the movie.

Frackman

Frackman shot in Australia, tells the story of accidental activist Dayne Pratzky and his struggle against international gas companies. Australia will soon become the world’s biggest gas exporters, as more than 30,000 wells are sunk in the state of Queensland where Dayne lives with many requiring controversial ‘fracking’. He and his neighbours have unwittingly become the centre of a massive industrial landscape and they have little power to fight the wishes of the $200 billion industry. Dayne embarks on a journey that transforms him from conservative pig-shooter to sophisticated global activist as the Frackman. On digital release in Australia from Dec 9th at Frackmanthemovie.